Holy Quran - Unmet Challenge to humanity

 

Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is different from that of all the other Prophets, for He is the Seal of the Prophets, and there is no prophet after him; his call is for all of the jinn and mankind, and is to abide until the Day of Resurrection. So it was appropriate that his greatest sign, that proves his sincerity and truthfulness, should abide until the Day of Resurrection, preserved by Allah and protected from change and alteration, to establish proof against the stubborn and be believed in by those of sound hearts. So the greatest sign of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is the Holy Qur’an

Concerning that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:

 “There is no Prophet but he was given signs because of which people believed in him. That which I have been given is revelation that Allah has revealed to me, and I hope that I will have the greatest number of followers on the Day of Resurrection.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (7274).

What this means is that the Holy Qur’an is the greatest of the signs given to the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). It is a miracle in the utmost sense of the word; in other words, it is beyond people, and is in fact beyond the jinn and mankind, to produce anything like it. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Say: ‘If mankind and the jinn were together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another”

[al-Isra’ 17:88].

Allah, may He be exalted, challenged them to produce the like thereof, or to produce just ten chapters like its chaptes, or to produce a single chapter only, like its chapters, even if it was like the shortest chapter that does not take up more than a single line, such as Sura al-Kawthar( the abundance) or Soorat al-Ikhlaas ( sincerity) and the like.

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Or they say, ‘He (Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)) forged it (the Qur'an).’ Say: ‘Bring you then ten forged Soorahs (chapters) like unto it, and call whomsoever you can, other than Allah (to your help), if you speak the truth!’”

[Hood 11:13]

“And if you (Arab pagans, Jews, and Christians) are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down (i.e. the Qur’an) to Our slave (Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)), then produce a Soorah (chapter) of the like thereof and call your witnesses (supporters and helpers) besides Allah, if you are truthful”

[al-Baqarah 2:23].

Allah, may He be exalted, has truthfully told us that they will never be able to do any such thing, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“But if you do it not, and you can never do it, then fear the Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers”

[al-Baqarah 2:24].

For more than fourteen hundred years, the enemies of the Qur’an have been trying to meet this challenge, which is still valid and still stands, and the Qur’an keeps telling them that their religions are false and that they are regarded as foolish, and it warns them of the Fire. This means that they have had a motive to produce something like it – namely the motive to prove the Qur’an to be false and their desire to show it to be false before people.

There is nothing to stop them from doing that, and there is nothing to prevent them from speaking or writing or responding to this challenge.Yet despite all that, we have never heard of anyone among them – and they number in the billions, and include eloquent and well-spoken people, literati, writers, scholars and the like…But we have never heard of anyone among them who accepted this challenge and was able to produce even a single line like the shortest soorah of the Holy Qur’an…

Apart from a few miserable attempts made by some of the eloquent Arabs, which caused them to become a laughing stock among their own people before they became a laughing stock among the Muslims!

This challenge still stands until today, and they keep hearing it and will continue to hear it until the onset of the Hour.

The jinn and mankind are incapable of producing anything like it.

After all that, how can it be right to say that it is possible for any person to produce three lines written in an elegant style that matches the eloquence of the Qur’an?!

This possibility is merely hypothetical, as it has no existence in reality, because if that were possible for them, why have they not done it?

So the challenge still stands:

“Let them then produce a recital like unto it (the Qur'ân) if they are truthful”

[at-Toor 52:34]

How to get guidance to worship the Creator of the worlds

 Praise be to Allah.

Allah has created man and given him reason, and He has sent down to him Revelation and sent to him Messengers to call him to the truth and warn him against falsehood. Then He has left him to make his own choice. 

“And say: ‘The truth is from your Lord.’ Then whosoever wills, let him believe; and whosoever wills, let him disbelieve.”

[al-Kahf 18:29 – interpretation of the meaning] 

Allah commanded His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to convey the truth to all of mankind. Then they have the choice to do as they wish. If a person obeys, he benefits himself, and if he disobeys, he harms himself, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Say: ‘O you mankind! Now truth (i.e. the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad), has come to you from your Lord. So whosoever receives guidance, he does so for the good of his own self; and whosoever goes astray, he does so to his own loss; and I am not (set) over you as a Wakeel (disposer of affairs to oblige you for guidance).’”

[Yoonus 10:108] 

Islam is the religion of the natural state of man (fitrah), the religion of reason and thought. Allah has distinguished the truth from falsehood. He has enjoined all that is good and forbidden all that is evil. He has permitted good things and forbidden evil things. There is no compulsion in religion because the benefits or harms come back upon the created being, not upon the Creator. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in taghoot (false gods) and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break.”

[al-Baqarah 2:256]  

And Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Whosoever does righteous good deeds, it is for (the benefit of) his ownself; and whosoever does evil, it is against his ownself. And your Lord is not at all unjust to (His) slaves.”

[Fussilat 41:46] 

Guidance is in the hand of Allah. If Allah willed, He could guide all of mankind, for there is nothing that He cannot do on this earth or in the heavens. Nothing happens in His Dominion except that which He wills. 

“Say: ‘With Allah is the perfect proof and argument, (i.e. the Oneness of Allah, the sending of His Messengers and His Holy Books, to mankind); had He so willed, He would indeed have guided you all.’”

[al-An’am 6:149 – interpretation of the meaning] 

But in His Wisdom, Allah has created us with the ability to choose, and He has sent down to us guidance and the Criterion. So whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will enter Paradise and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger will enter Hell, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Verily, proofs have come to you from your Lord, so whosoever sees, will do so for (the good of) his ownself, and whosoever blinds himself, will do so to his own harm, and I (Muhammad) am not a watcher over you.”

[al-An’am 6:104] 

The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has no part in guidance; all that he and the Muslims have to do is to explain and convey the message, and show them guidance but they cannot force people to follow it, as Allah said to His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. So, will you (O Muhammad) then compel mankind, until they become believers?”

[Yoonus 10:99] 

And Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And the duty of the Messenger is only to convey (the Message) plainly.”

[al-‘Ankaboot 29:18] 

Guidance to the truth is in the hand of Allah alone and no human being has any share in that, as Allah said to His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Verily, you (O Muhammad) guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He knows best those who are the guided.”

[al-Qasas 28:56]  

Allah guides whomsoever He wills and sends astray whomsoever He wills. He has told us that He guides those who obey Him and turn to Him, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“While as for those who accept guidance, He increases their guidance and bestows on them their piety.”

[Muhammad 47:17] 

But whoever disobeys Allah and turns away from Him, Allah will not guide him, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Truly, Allah guides not him who is a liar, and a disbeliever.”

[al-Zumar 39:3] 

Allah is Omniscient and knows what has happened and is happening and what is yet to come. Allah knows the believers and the disbelievers, and what they will do, and He knows what their fate will be in the Hereafter. He has written all this in al-Lawh al-Mahfooz (the Preserved Tablet), as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And all things We have recorded in a Book.”

[al-Naba 78:29] 

Allah has created man with the ability to choose, and He has created him able to do both, either believe or disbelieve, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Verily, We showed him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful.”

[al-Insan 76:3] 

Man has the choice in terms of his reason only; if he loses his reason by which he is able to distinguish between the alternatives of good and evil, truth and falsehood, then he is not accountable. Hence according to Islamic sharee’ah (law), the pen is lifted from the insane person (i.e., he is not accountable) until he recovers his senses, and from the child until he reaches the age of understanding, and from the sleeper until he wakes up. None of these people are accountable until they gain or recover the reason by which they may distinguish between the alternatives of faith and disbelief, truth and falsehood, and so on. 

Whatever direction a person takes, there will be reward and punishment. If he obeys, there will be Paradise: 

“Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself (i.e. obeys and performs all that Allah ordered, by following the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism and by doing righteous good deeds.”

[al-Shams 91:9 – interpretation of the meaning] 

And if he disobeys, there will be Hell: 

“And indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself (i.e. disobeys what Allah has ordered by rejecting the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism or by following polytheism, or by doing every kind of evil wicked deed.”

[al-Shams 91:10 – interpretation of the meaning] 

The choice of one of these two ways is something about which a person will be questioned by the Lord of the Worlds. Hence it is clear that faith or disbelief, obedience or disobedience, is a matter of personal choice. Allah has made reward and punishment dependent upon this choice: 

“Whosoever does righteous good deeds, it is for (the benefit of) his ownself; and whosoever does evil, it is against his ownself. And your Lord is not at all unjust to (His) slaves.”

[Fussilat 41:46] 

Whoever loves Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and desires good in this world and in the Hereafter, let him enter Islam, and whoever turns away from that and is content with this world and has no interest in the Hereafter and does not submit, then his abode will be Hell. The individual is the one who will benefit or harm himself. There is no compulsion to choose either.  Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Verily, this (Verses of the Quran) is an admonition, so whosoever wills, let him take a Path to his Lord (Allah).”

[al-Insan 76:29] 

“Whomever Allah wills - He leaves astray; and whomever He wills - He puts him on a straight path”

[al-An‘aam 6:39]

“Whoever Allah guides - he is the [rightly] guided; and whoever He sends astray - it is those who are the losers”

[al-A‘raaf 7:178].

The Muslim says in his prayer: “Ihdina as-siraat al-mustaqeem (Guide us to the straight path) [al-Faatihah 1:6], because he knows that guidance is in the hand of Allah, may He be exalted, yet at the same time the individual is required to take measures that lead to guidance; he is required to be patient and steadfast, and to take the initiative in adhering to the path of righteousness. 

Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has given him sound reason and free will, by means of which he may choose good instead of evil, guidance instead of misguidance. If he takes proper measures and is keen for Allah to bless him with perfect guidance, then help and guidance will come to him from Allah, may He be exalted. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And thus We have tried some of them through others that the disbelievers might say, ‘Is it these whom Allah has favored among us?’ Is not Allah most knowing of those who are grateful?”

[al-An‘aam 6:53].

Thus Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, explains that the reason why He sends astray those whom He sends astray stems from the individual himself. The individual does not know what Allah, may He be exalted, has decreed for him, because he only comes to know of the decree after what is decreed has come to pass. So he does not know whether Allah has decreed that he will be misguided or guided.

So how can he follow the path of misguidance, then argue that Allah, may He be exalted, willed that for him.

Would it not be more appropriate for him to follow the path of guidance, then say: It is Allah, may He be exalted, Who has guided me to the straight path.

In fact man has power and he has the freedom to choose; the gate of guidance is not more hidden than the gates of provision. As is well known to everyone, man has a divinely-allocated share of provision, yet despite that he strives to take measures to earn his provision, in his homeland or overseas, and he explores all avenues of achieving that; he does not sit in his house and say, If my provision is decreed for me, then it will come to me. Rather he strives to take measures to earn his provision, for his provision is connected to effort, as is proven from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

This provision is also decreed, just as deeds, good or bad, are decreed, so why do you go explore all avenues and travel throughout the land seeking worldly provision, but you do not strive to do righteous deeds, seeking provision for the hereafter and to attain paradise?

We have noted above that what is decreed is secret and hidden, and you cannot know about it.

Now you have the choice between two paths:

a path that will lead you to safety, victory, happiness and honour;

and a path that will lead you to doom, regret and shame.

Now you have the choice between these two paths. There is nothing to prevent you from following the path on the right or the path on the left. If you wish you can follow one, or if you wish you can follow the other.

Thus it becomes clear to us that man has freedom of will with regard to the options before him: just as he strives for worldly matters and uses his free will to choose what is appropriate, so too with regard to the hereafter, he should use his free will to choose what is appropriate. Moreover, with regard to the hereafter, the appropriate choices are much clearer than the choices with regard to worldly matters, because the one who explains the paths that lead to the hereafter is Allah, may He be exalted, as He has explained them in His Book and on the lips of His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). So the paths that lead to the hereafter must be clearer than the paths of this world. Yet despite that, man follows the paths of this world, which have no guaranteed outcome, but he neglects the paths that lead to the hereafter, of which the outcomes are known and guaranteed, because they are proven by the promise of Allah, and Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, does not break His promise.

 “Enter Paradise for what you used to do”

[an-Nahl 16:32].

Source: From Usool Al-Deen Al-Islami By Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Ibraaheem Al-Tuwayjri

Man ( description in the quran)

Chapter(surah) 76  : Man (insaan)

The theme of this Chapter is to inform man of his true position in the world and to tell him that if he understood his true position rightly and adopted the attitude of gratefulness, he would meet with such and such good end, and if he adopted the way of disbelief, he would meet with such and such evil ends

In this Surah, first of all man has been reminded that there was a time when he was nothing; then a humble beginning of him was made with a mixed drop of sperm and ovum of which even his mother was not aware; even she did not know that he had been conceived nor anyone else seeing the microscopic cell could say that it was a man, who in future would become the best of creation hon the eart. 

After this, man has been warned, so as to say: "Beginning your creation in this way We have developed and shaped you into what you are today in order to test and try you in the world. That is why, unlike other creatures, you were made intelligent and sensible and were shown both the way of gratitude and the way of ingratitude clearly so that you may show, in the interval that you have been granted here for work, whether you have emerged as a grateful servant from the test or an unbelieving, Un- grateful wretch!". Then, just in one sentence, it has been stated decisively what will be the fate to be met with in the Hereafter by those who emerged as unbelievers from this test.

This shows man's real position in the world and the position of the world for man. He is not like the trees and animals that the object of his creation be fulfilled on the earth itself, and he should die and perish here after he has played his appointed role over a period of time according to the law of nature. Furthermore, this world is neither a place of punishment for him, as the monks think, nor a place of rewards as the believers of the law of transmigration think, nor a place of entertainment and enjoyment, as the materialists think, nor a battlefield, as the followers of Darwin and Marx think, but in fact it is a place of test and trial for him. That which he regards as his age, is in fact the time given him for the test. Whatever powers and capabilities he has been given in the world, the thing, that have been placed under his control and authority, the various positions and capacities in which he functions, and the relationships that he enjoys with other men, all these are the countless papers of the test and this test continues till the last breath of his life. 

The result is not to be announced in this world but in the Hereafter when all his answer-books will have been assessed, decision will be given whether he has come out successful or failed. And his success or failure wholly depends on what he thought of himself while he functioned here and how he answered the papers that were given him here.

If he believed that he had no God, or that he was the slave of many gods, and while answering the papers thought that he was not to be held accountable before his Creator in the Hereafter, his whole lifework went wrong. And if he regarded himself as the slave of One God and worked in the way approved by God, with the accountability of the Hereafter always in view, he stood successful in the test.

In man's own self and outside him, from the earth to the heavens, there lie scattered in the universe countless such signs which clearly show that all this could not happen without a God, nor could there be many gods to create this life and control and administer it. Likewise, these very signs, inside man and outside him, clearly point also to the Resurrection and Hereafter. If man shuts down his eyes on them, or refuses to ponder over them intelligently, or avoids to admit the truths which they point out, he himself would be to blame. For Allah has shown no negligence in laying out every possible sign of the truth for the guidance of man.

To reinforce these means of guidance Allah sent Messengers and revealed Books in the world for the purpose of giving clear and definite guidance to man; in these Books it was clearly explained what is the way of gratefulness and what is the way of ungratefulness and unbelief and what will be the consequences of following either way. The teaching brought by the Prophets and the Books has spread throughout the world in countless perceptible. and imperceptible ways, on such a large scale that no section of human population has remained unaware of the concept of God and the Hereafter, of the distinction between good and evil, and of the moral principles and legal rulings presented by them, whether it knows or does not know that it has obtained this knowledge only through the teachings of the Prophets and the Books they brought. 

Even those who disbelieve in the Prophets and the Books today, or are unaware of them, also are following many of those things which have reached them actually through their teachings while they do not know what is the real source of these teachings.

In the second section, addressing the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace), three things have been stated: first, that "it is in fact We Ourself Who are revealing this Qur'an piecemeal to you, and this is intended to inform the disbelievers, not you, that the Qur'an is not being fabricated by Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) but it is "We Who are revealing it, and it is Our Own wisdom which requires that We should reveal it piece by piece and not all at once."Second, the Holy Prophet has been told: "No matter how long ,it may take for the decree of your Lord to be enforced and no matter what afflictions may befall you in the meantime, in any case you should continue to perform your mission of Apostleship patiently, and not to yield to the pressure tactics of any of these wicked and unbelieving people."The third thing he has been told is: "Remember Allah day and night, perform the Prayer and spend your nights in the worship of Allah, for it is these things which sustain and strengthen those who call to Allah in the face of iniquity and disbelief."

Man is granted authority to the extent that he may decide to adopt any one of the different courses available for passing life here. This is the freedom of choice that Allah has given him. For example, when a man confronts the question of earning a living for himself, he finds many ways before him of which some are lawful, as for example lawful kinds of labor, service, trade and business, industry, or agriculture, and some are unlawful as thievery, robbery, picking pockets, prostitution, trading in money (on interest), gambling, bribery and unlawful kinds of services and business, etc. The decision to adopt any one of these ways has been left to man's own free choice as to how he would like to earn his living. Likewise, there are different modes of morality. On the one side, there are the good qualities, like honesty, nobility, decency, justice, pity, sympathy and chastity, and on the other, the evil traits like wickedness, meanness, tyranny, dishonesty, and frivolity. Man has full freedom to adopt any mode of morality he likes. The same is the case with religion; man has many ways open before him in this regard also-atheism and denial of God, polytheism and idol-worship, different combinations of monotheism and polytheism, and the un-alloyed creed of God-worship which is taught by the Qur'an.

 In these also the decision to choose has been left to man as to which of these he wants to adopt. But after man has exercised this freedom of choice whether he can practically also do the same which he wants to do, depends on Allah's Will, His leave and His grace. If the Will of Allah be to let the man do what he has willed or decided to do, then alone can he do it; otherwise he cannot do anything without Allah's Will and His leave, however hard and seriously he may try to do it. Therefore, Allah has kept this in His own power whether He may allow or disallow the man to follow the right or the wrong path that he chooses to follow or not. The person who, giving up error, wants to adopt the right way is also granted righteousness only by Allah's leave and will. However, the condition is that the decision to give up error and choose guidance should have been taken by the man himself; otherwise just as Allah does not make anybody a thief or murderer or atheist or polytheist forcibly, so also He does not make anybody a believer forcibly.The question of guidance also is no exception to it. Allah alone knows on the basis of His knowledge and He alone determines on the basis of His wisdom as to who deserves to be guided and who does not.

In conclusion, it has been said: This is an Admonition: whoever wills may accept it and take a path to his Lord. But man's own will and desire is not everything in the world. No one's will and desire can be fulfilled unless Allah (also) so wills. And Allah's willing is not haphazard: whatever He wills, He wills it on the basis of His knowledge and wisdom. He admits into His mercy whomever He regards as worthy of His mercy on the basis of His knowledge and wisdom, and He has prepared a painful torment for those whom He finds unjust and wicked.

Allah is the Best of Planners

No matter what decisions humans make , there is absolute lack of knowledge of future which is only in the Control of Allah azzawajal. We should not see the apparent victory of oppressors as victory as we dont know what is is the future in store for them or whether they might even live to taste the victory or oppression.Have tawakkul and trust entirely in the Almighty whlist having the assurance that this life is temporary and a test for the permanent life in hereafter.

Alllah, may He be exalted, says regarding the requital of the disbelievers for their scheming and plotting against His believing slaves and their spreading mischief on the earth (interpretation of the meaning):“Indeed, they are planning a plan,But I am planning a plan.So allow time for the disbelievers. Leave them awhile”[at-Taariq 86:15-17].Shaykh as-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“Indeed, they” that is, those who reject the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and the Qur’an “are planning a plan” to defeat the truth and support falsehood

“But I am planning a plan” to cause the truth to prevail, even if the disbelievers hate it, and to ward off what they have brought of falsehood, so that it may be known who will prevail, for humans are too weak and insignificant to be able to resist the Most Strong, All-Knowing and His plans.

“So allow time for the disbelievers. Leave them awhile” that is, for a short time, for they will come to know their fate when the punishment descends upon them.Tafseer as-Sa‘di (919).